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The comparison reads the same evidence fields used by broker profiles, so users can scan scores, regulation, costs, platforms, withdrawals, and caveats side by side.

Broker 1

Broker 2

VS field	Lightspeed lightspeed.com Options BrokerFutures BrokerETF	DEGIRO degiro.com ETF BrokerMulti Asset BrokerETF
Decision summary
Overall score

Trust score	82	100

Cost score	66	92

Platform score	90	92

Withdrawal score	72	89

Best for	Active stock and ETF traders · Options traders · Day traders	European self-directed investors seeking low-cost access to stocks and ETFs · Investors who prefer web/mobile platforms and exchange-traded products

Watch out	Needs verification	Needs verification

Trust & regulation
Regulators	Registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer; member FINRA, NFA and SIPC. Source	Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB. Source
License numbers	CRD#: 104369 / SEC#: 8-52843 Source	Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245. Source
Regulated entities	Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC, U.S. broker-dealer; CRD 104369; SEC 8-52843; member FINRA, NFA and SIPC. Source	DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Source
Negative balance protection	No explicit negative balance protection was found; margin and day-trading disclosures warn clients can lose more than they deposit and be responsible for shortfalls. Source	No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only. Source
Investor compensation	SIPC member; SIPC coverage available only for securities and cash held in connection with purchase or sale of securities in equities and equities options accounts. Source	Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply. Source
Restricted countries	Country-level restricted list not found on official pages; legal disclosure lists Section 311 prohibited entities/banks for which accounts/access cannot be maintained. Source	Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page. Source

Trust & regulation

Regulators

Registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer; member FINRA, NFA and SIPC.

Source

Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB.

Source

License numbers

CRD#: 104369 / SEC#: 8-52843

Source

Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245.

Source

Regulated entities

Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC, U.S. broker-dealer; CRD 104369; SEC 8-52843; member FINRA, NFA and SIPC.

Source

DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.

Source

Negative balance protection

No explicit negative balance protection was found; margin and day-trading disclosures warn clients can lose more than they deposit and be responsible for shortfalls.

Source

No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only.

Source

Investor compensation

SIPC member; SIPC coverage available only for securities and cash held in connection with purchase or sale of securities in equities and equities options accounts.

Source

Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply.

Source

Restricted countries

Country-level restricted list not found on official pages; legal disclosure lists Section 311 prohibited entities/banks for which accounts/access cannot be maintained.

Source

Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page.

Source

Costs & account conditions
Minimum deposit	Lightspeed Trader Pro from $2,500 for U.S. accounts and $5,000 for non-U.S. accounts; platform comparison lists $5,000 for Trader Pro/Web & Mobile, $25,000 for Sterling/EZE, $30,000 Connect API, $50,000 DAS, $175,000 portfolio margin. Source	No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account. Source
Spread from	Not applicable or not broker-level for this investment-platform profile; review if leveraged products apply. Source	Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs. Source
Commission	Not disclosed in extracted official sources; needs editor review. Source	Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply. Source
Maximum leverage	Reg T allows borrowing up to 50% of purchase price; portfolio margin may exceed 4:1 intraday/2:1 overnight; futures intraday leverage is discretionary, usually 2:1 and can be as high as 4:1. Source	DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources. Source
Deposit fee	Lightspeed does not charge for ACH transfers and does not charge to receive incoming wire deposits; third-party transfers not accepted. Source	No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Withdrawal fee	ACH withdrawals free; domestic wires $20; international wires $50; standard check free, overnight check $45; outgoing ACAT $95. Source	No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Inactivity fee	Accounts below $15,000 are charged a $25 monthly minimum inactivity/minimum commission fee minus actual commissions if they generate less than $25 monthly commissions. Source	No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0. Source

Costs & account conditions

Minimum deposit

Lightspeed Trader Pro from $2,500 for U.S. accounts and $5,000 for non-U.S. accounts; platform comparison lists $5,000 for Trader Pro/Web & Mobile, $25,000 for Sterling/EZE, $30,000 Connect API, $50,000 DAS, $175,000 portfolio margin.

Source

No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account.

Source

Spread from

Not applicable or not broker-level for this investment-platform profile; review if leveraged products apply.

Source

Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs.

Source

Commission

Not disclosed in extracted official sources; needs editor review.

Source

Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply.

Source

Maximum leverage

Reg T allows borrowing up to 50% of purchase price; portfolio margin may exceed 4:1 intraday/2:1 overnight; futures intraday leverage is discretionary, usually 2:1 and can be as high as 4:1.

Source

DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources.

Source

Deposit fee

Lightspeed does not charge for ACH transfers and does not charge to receive incoming wire deposits; third-party transfers not accepted.

Source

No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Withdrawal fee

ACH withdrawals free; domestic wires $20; international wires $50; standard check free, overnight check $45; outgoing ACAT $95.

Source

No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Inactivity fee

Accounts below $15,000 are charged a $25 monthly minimum inactivity/minimum commission fee minus actual commissions if they generate less than $25 monthly commissions.

Source

No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0.

Source

Markets, platforms & payments
Tradable assets	Stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and futures options. Source	Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability. Source
Trading platforms	Lightspeed Trader Pro, Lightspeed Web & Mobile, Sterling Trader Pro, Lightspeed Connect API, EZE EMS, DAS Trader Pro, and futures platforms including efutures powered by CQG, CQG Trader, CQG One. Source	DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Source
Account types	Individual, Joint, Traditional/Roth/SEP/Rollover/Limited Margin IRA, Corporate, LLC, Partnership, Hedge Funds, Trusts, plus institutional account arrangements. Source	DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available. Source
Deposit methods	ACH electronic transfers, wire transfers, and account transfers/ACAT; third-party transfers not accepted. Source	Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency. Source
Withdrawal methods	Withdrawals by ACH, wire, ACAT transfer to another institution, or check request. Source	Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn. Source
Withdrawal processing time	ACH transfers take 2 business days; withdrawal requests received by 2:30 PM ET are processed same day; wires usually received same business day; checks take 3-5 business days after same-day processing. Source	Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete. Source

Markets, platforms & payments

Tradable assets

Stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and futures options.

Source

Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability.

Source

Trading platforms

Lightspeed Trader Pro, Lightspeed Web & Mobile, Sterling Trader Pro, Lightspeed Connect API, EZE EMS, DAS Trader Pro, and futures platforms including efutures powered by CQG, CQG Trader, CQG One.

Source

DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Source

Account types

Individual, Joint, Traditional/Roth/SEP/Rollover/Limited Margin IRA, Corporate, LLC, Partnership, Hedge Funds, Trusts, plus institutional account arrangements.

Source

DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available.

Source

Deposit methods

ACH electronic transfers, wire transfers, and account transfers/ACAT; third-party transfers not accepted.

Source

Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency.

Source

Withdrawal methods

Withdrawals by ACH, wire, ACAT transfer to another institution, or check request.

Source

Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn.

Source

Withdrawal processing time

ACH transfers take 2 business days; withdrawal requests received by 2:30 PM ET are processed same day; wires usually received same business day; checks take 3-5 business days after same-day processing.

Source

Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete.

Source

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